Print

Email story

Comment

Email editor

Port snapping up 39 acres to expand

By STEVE HUETTEL
Published March 16, 2005

TAMPA - The Tampa Port Authority will buy land near the port's industrial heart that had been slated for a big condominium project.

Port commissioners voted unanimously Tuesday to pay $15-million to Trans-Continental Marine Repair & Drydock Corp. for 39 acres of waterfront off Causeway Boulevard.

The land, near a deep-water channel, a highway and railroad connection, will be developed for maritime commercial use, said port director Richard Wainio.

The public agency needs a place to relocate ship repair operations, he said. The site also might be suitable for cargo docks and warehouses or a new cruise ship terminal for vessels too big to safely navigate a narrow channel leading to downtown Tampa.

But it's too early to decide on the best use, he said. Also, developing the property will take years of work, including dredging parts of East Bay to handle large ships and construction of a wharf.

"It gives us a lot of flexibility," Wainio said. "It's easy to make a case that we need more (land on) deep water."

Trans-Continental owner George Lorton had asked Tampa to rezone the land for about 900 condominiums.

Port officials vehemently opposed the request. The property, near the port's shrimp docks and across East Bay from industrial Hooker's Point, should remain open for traditional maritime uses, they said. The two sides worked out a deal last month before the issue went before the City Council.

Lorton bought the land in parcels over several years beginning in 1999 for his primary business, International Ship Repair & Marine Services, the port's second-largest shipyard.

The company owns a yard across Ybor Channel from the Channel District, fast filling with new condo towers. International also leases Metroport, a slip on the channel owned by the Port Authority.

But the lease expires in January. The land will be used for a proposed $400-million high-tech conference center and luxury hotel. The Port Authority is looking for new space for the shipyard.

In other business, port commissioners tangled over a resolution to support a free trade accord with five Central American countries and the Dominican Republic.

Chairman Gladstone "Tony" Cooper asked commissioners to back the trade deal, which faces sharp opposition from certain agricultural interests, labor and environmental groups when it goes before Congress in the next few months.

But County Commissioner Ronda Storms said the North American Free Trade Agreement with Canada and Mexico was "devastating" to tomato and pepper farmers in Hillsborough County and she couldn't support the new trade pact.

Tampa Mayor Pam Iorio said the board shouldn't take on sweeping international issues without doing its homework. "If we want to get involved in free trade issues, we should be better informed," she said. Cooper withdrew his request and asked Wainio to schedule a workshop.

Also, Storms asked the board to consider waiving the $1,000 monthly rent the agency charges the American Victory Mariners Memorial & Museum Ship. Port commissioners expect to take up the issue at a meeting April 19.

Steve Huettel can be reached at huettel@sptimes.com or 813 226-3384.

[Last modified March 16, 2005, 01:31:14]